Use of rotating banners for items in grid epg

ABSTRACT

A method and apparatus for displaying information in cells of a grid electronic program guide is disclosed. A banner with the information for each cell of the grid electronic program guide is first stored in a memory. One or more cells are then selected. The banner in each selected cell is then rotated to display the banner a predetermined number of times.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The invention relates to an electronic program guide and moreparticularly to using revolving banners in grid electronic programguides for displaying individual program data.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Grid electronic program guides (EPG) are the most frequently used formatfor the presentation of program guide information on digital televisionsystems. The advantage of grid EPGs is that the representation of thebroadcast channel data and content are provided to the viewer in adirectly understandable format. For example, the television scheduleinformation is presented in a program guide having a scheduleinformation area depicting the programs that are being shown on eachchannel for a period of time, e.g., a day, a week, etc. FIG. 1illustrates a typical grid EPG 100 which includes a schedule informationarea 102 having a program matrix 104 of cells or items that depict theshows that are being presented on each channel at each time of the day.The program guide 100 conveniently lists the channels in a verticalcolumn to the left of the program matrix 104 and the times in ahorizontal row above the program matrix 104.

A television schedule system may include an input device, such as aremote control device, pointing device, mouse, keyboard, microphone orthe like, to enable the user to browse through the schedule informationarea and/or obtain more information about programs of particularinterest. A controller may comprise a trackball, cursor controller,pointing device, a microphone for allowing voice activation, a number ofkeys or buttons that function to move the viewer around the screen, orthe like. For example, the controller comprises a scrolling mechanismfor displacing a movable cursor through a matrix of cells or windows ona screen. The cursor may comprise a physical icon on the screen, or itmay be represented by highlighting or other visual indications of thecells or windows that are scrolled through by the viewer.

Unfortunately, a major problem with grid EPGs is that individual programdata (the title of the program) has to be presented in a very condensedform. Thus, in a typical grid EPG, the titles of the programs will haveto be presented in a truncated form as is illustrated in FIG. 1. Onemethod of providing more information is to allow the pointing device tohighlight a particular cell, and in a separate window to provide moredetailed information about the highlighted show. An example of thismethod is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 5,793,438. One disadvantage ofthis method is that it requires complex control of the focus control inthe grid. Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus for providingmore information in a grid electronic program guide without the need forcomplex control systems.

OBJECT AND SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

It is an object of the invention to overcome the above-describeddeficiencies of the known electronic program guides by allowing moreinformation to be displayed on each cell by allowing the information ineach individual grid cell to be stored as a banner. In a banner, thetext in the cell is rotated across the display area of the cell to allowthe text to be read in full by the viewer.

According to one embodiment of the invention, a method and apparatus fordisplaying information in cells of a grid electronic program guide isdisclosed. A banner with the information for each cell of the gridelectronic program guide is first stored in a memory. A column of cellsis then selected. The banner in each cell in the selected column is thenrotated to display the banner a predetermined number of times.

These and other aspects of the invention are apparent from and will beelucidated with reference to the embodiments described hereinafter.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 illustrates a known electronic program guide;

FIG. 2 is a block schematic representation of a representativetelevision system on which the electronic program guide of the inventioncan be used;

FIG. 3 is a schematic representation of a known remote control unit;

FIG. 4 is a schematic representation of the internal circuitry of aknown set-top box;

FIGS. 5 a-5 i are a series of frames illustrating a title of a programstored as an animated GIF according to one embodiment of the invention;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart illustrating the use of revolving banners foritems in an EPG grid according to one embodiment of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

The electronic program guide of the invention can be implemented on apersonal computer, a PCTV, a television connected to a set-top box, or atelevision including a custom board. It will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that the invention is not limited to any particularhardware configuration. According to the embodiments of the invention,the television system just needs the ability to display an electronicprogram guide.

As is well known in the art, the information to be displayed on thetelevision system may be transmitted as an analog signal or as a digitalsignal modulated onto an analog carrier. The signals may be received viaa cable, or via an antenna or satellite dish. Typically, television setsare designed to receive analog signals, and computer display devices aredesigned to display pictures encoded in a digital format. However, adecoder system can convert the digital data to an analog signal fordisplay on a television set, and TV modems can format analog TV signalsfor display on a monitor.

FIG. 2 illustrates a set-top box and a television combination 200suitable for implementing the invention, but the invention is notlimited thereto. The set-top box 202 is coupled to a broadcast medium(not illustrated) and to a broadcast signal input of a television 204.The set-top box 202 operates to select a particular channel to bereceived and to display programming of that channel through thetelevision 204. According to some of the embodiments of the invention,the set-top box includes an IR receiver 206, or the like, operative toreceive remote control signals from a remote control unit. A viewer mayselect a particular channel to be received by commanding the set-top box202 via the remote control or by manually operating controls (notillustrated) on the set-top box 202. The set-top box 202 may alsoincorporate circuitry to allow the set-top box 202 to generate its owndisplays to be shown on the screen of the television 204.

As noted above, a set-top box is only one possible apparatus forimplementing the invention. For example, all or part of the electronicprogram guide generating system of the invention may be located withinthe television 204 or within an interactive television network coupledto the set-top box 202. The set-top box 202 may be understood to be onlyone type of terminal adapter coupling a display terminal to a mediumcarrying a plurality of information streams such as video programs.Thus, a computer coupled to a network and a monitor could also be usedto implement the invention.

FIG. 3 illustrates an exemple of a remote control unit 302 suitable foruse in accordance with at least one embodiment of the invention. Theremote control unit 302 includes a numeric keypad 304, volume controls306, channel controls 308, vertical cursor arrow keys 310, horizontalcursor arrow keys 312, an on/off switch 314, a TV button 316, a guidebutton 318, a select button 320, and an options button 322.

FIG. 4 illustrates a simplified representation of the operation ofinternal circuitry of the set-top box 202. The set-top box 202 includesa tuner/decoder 402, a control unit 404, a remote control receiver 406,a program guide information extraction unit 408, a program guide displaygeneration unit 410, and a presentation unit 412. The remote controlreceiver 406 is coupled to the IR receiver 206 and converts the receivedIR signals to electric command signals which are input into the controlunit 404. The control unit 404 coordinates the general operation of theset-top box 202 and preferably incorporates a microprocessor ormicrocontroller. One function of the control unit 404 is to generate achannel selection control signal to the tuner/decoder 402. Thetuner/decoder 402 receives the external information signal, such as avideo signal, and isolates a desired channel in accordance with thechannel selection control signal.

The program guide extraction unit 408 isolates program guide informationfrom the received signal. For example, this information can be extractedfrom the blanking intervals of the currently selected channel. It willbe understood that there are other ways of multiplexing the programguide information with video information for display.

The control unit 404 also directs the program guide generation unit 410to generate electronic program displays and prompts in response to theprogram guide information made available by the program guide extractionunit 408 and the user commands received via the remote control receiver406. The presentation unit 412 combines the program guide displaygenerated by the display generation unit 410 with the video signalreceived from the tuner/decoder 402 to produce a video signal fordisplay. Further details of the internal design of the set-top box 202will be understood by those skilled in the art and will not be furtherdiscussed herein. Any combination of hardware and software may be usedto implement the functions of the set-top box 202.

According to one embodiment of the invention, revolving banners are usedfor items, for example, titles of programs, in a grid EPG so as toenable the viewer to fully read the items in the grid. One method ofimplementing this invention is to create each item as an animated GIF(Graphics Interchange Format). The animated GIF contains the image ofthe title in a number of steps or frames as illustrated in FIGS. 5 a-5i. In FIGS. 5 a-5 i, the title “THE TONIGHT SHOW” is stored in a seriesof frames 502 which can be displayed sequentially to create therevolving banner in the cell of the electronic program guide. The GIFimage can be triggered, for example, by the Java code of a digitaltelevision XLET application, but the invention is not limited thereto.When the animated GIF is triggered, the image in the particular cell inthe grid changes as the frames of the animated GIF are sequentiallyshown. Thus, the display of the grid items is based on an array of GIFimages that can be independently triggered to execute the movement ofthe display in a highly efficient form on the graphical display of thescreen.

According to one embodiment of the invention, all of the items in thecells of the grid can be revolved at the same time. However, this maycreate a highly disruptive visual image. According to another embodimentof the invention, the item in each cell in a single column (or row) canbe rotated at the same time as will be explained with reference to FIG.6. In this exemple of an embodiment, the control unit 404 selects thecolumn of items on display closest to the current time to be rotatedfirst in step 602. The items in the column can be rotated apredetermined number of times, for example, 1, 2, 3, . . . , in step604. Then, either autonomously or by a given signal from the user, thenext column can be rotated in step 606. The second column will then berotated a predetermined number of times in step 608, and the processwould then be repeated for the next column. This process would continueuntil it is determined in step 610 that the last column has been rotatedthe predetermined number of times. The process can be interrupted at anytime by the user who gives a command to hold or select. After all of thecolumns of the grid have been shown, the process can again start withthe column closest to the current time. In addition, the entire processcould stop if the complete grid has been shown a predetermined number oftimes.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the remote controlunit could be used to move a pointer over the grid on the screen. Inthis embodiment, the pointer can be used to trigger the animated GIF ofa particular cell. Thus, only the cell at which the pointer is pointingwill have an activated revolving banner. Alternatively, the pointercould be used to activate an entire row or column of the grid, whereinthe banners in all of the cells in the selected row or column areactivated.

According to another embodiment of the invention, the triggering of arevolving cell could be based on a sequence that attempts to drawattention to specific cells, by appearing to rotate cells in an unbiasedform, but in fact to rotate the cells in a manner that actually makessome titles easier to read. This could be done by changing the speed andduration of rotation, by jittering the rotating speed to make reading ofthe title more difficult, or by repeating the rotation of some cellsmore frequently.

It will be understood that the different embodiments of the inventionare not limited to the exact order of the above-described steps as thetiming of some steps can be interchanged without affecting the overalloperation of the invention. Furthermore, use of the verb “comprise” andits conjugations does not exclude other elements or steps, while use ofthe article “a” or “an” does not exclude a plurality of elements orsteps, and a single processor or other unit may fulfil the functions ofseveral of the units or circuits recited in the claims.

1. A method of displaying information in cells of a grid electronicprogram guide, the method comprising the steps of: storing a banner withthe information for each cell of the grid electronic program guide;selecting at least one cell; and rotating the banner in each cell in theat least one selected cell to display the banner a predetermined numberof times.
 2. The method as claimed in claim 1, wherein the banner foreach cell is an animated GIF file.
 3. The method according to claim 1,wherein the at least one cell is a column of cells.
 4. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the at least one cell is a row of cells.5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the column of cells closestto the current time is selected.
 6. The method according to claim 5,further comprising the step of: selecting successive columns of cells,starting with the column representing a second closest to the currenttime and rotating the banners in the selected column of cells apredetermined period of time.
 7. The method according to claim 1,wherein the at least one cell is selected by the user.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 7, wherein the user selects the at least one cell byusing a pointing device.
 9. The method according to claim 1, furthercomprising the step of: jittering the rotation speed of some banners tomake the banners more difficult to read.
 10. An apparatus for displayinginformation in cells of a grid electronic program guide, the apparatuscomprising: means for storing a banner with the information for eachcell of the grid electronic program guide; means for selecting at leastone cell; and means for rotating the banner in each cell in the at leastone selected cell to display the banner a predetermined number of times.11. The apparatus according to claim 10, wherein the banner for eachcell is an animated GIF file.
 12. The apparatus according to claim 10,wherein the at least one cell is a column of cells.
 13. The apparatusaccording to claim 10, wherein the at least one cell is a row of cells.14. The apparatus according to claim 12, wherein the column of cellsclosest to the current time is selected.
 15. The apparatus according toclaim 14, further comprising: means for selecting successive columns ofcells, starting with the column representing a second closest to thecurrent time and rotating the banners in the selected column of cells apredetermined period of time.
 16. The apparatus according to claim 10,wherein the at least one cell is selected by the user.
 17. The apparatusaccording to claim 16, wherein the user selects the at least one cell byusing a pointing device.
 18. The apparatus according to claim 10,further comprising: means for jittering the rotation speed of somebanners to make the banners more difficult to read.
 19. A computerprogram product enabling a programmable device, when executing saidcomputer program product, to function as an apparatus as defined inclaim 10.